Why is Belarus sending a Flight Attendant into Space?

(Updated 13th March 2024)

We’ll say, here and now, that we still don’t have a definitive answer to that question, but as the launch of Soyuz MS-25 (full details here) draws nears, lets look at the latest information.

As we update this Blog, the two crews for Soyuz MS-25 have been at Baikonur for a week, to undertake final pre-launch training, so lets look back at the key events that have got Marina Vasilevskaya to this point. 

 

This project was officially signed-off by Putin and Lukashenko in April 2022, and in June 2022, a statement attributed to the Belarus Academy of Sciences (AoS) said that one hundred candidates had been identified. All candidates had to be between 22 and 35 and with a scientific, medical or engineering degree and relevant experience.

Belarus has released little information about the selection process for the Belarusian Woman in Space’ project. No open call was made, so it seems reasonable to assume that scientific, medical, engineering, and, possibly, military organisations were invited to nominate candidates. Much more recent statements said that Marina Vasilevskaya and Anastasia Lenkova had been chosen from three thousand applicants, so there’s an obvious inconsistency here in the true number of applicants.

By late 2022, the list was down to twenty-nine names, nineteen men and ten women. At some point, someone remembered that Lukashenko had promised to send a woman and so it seems that the men dropped out. Six of those women went to Star City, near Moscow, for vetting by Russian experts, over several days, in December 2022. All six were said to have passed, which, when compared to other similar selection groups, seems statistically improbable.

The six comprised two doctors, two scientific researchers and two flight attendants.

On the final day of this process, Lukashenko visited, and one of the six, Belavia flight attendant, Marina Vasilevskaya, repeated her 8 g centrifuge run. The same day, Lukashenko was photographed standing between Vasilevskaya and Dr Anastasia Lenkova, perhaps suggesting that he had made the selection of the final two candidates himself, at that moment.  

Dr Anastasia Lenkova, 28, is a doctor, a children’s paediatric surgeon, and radiologist. Initially, that was the extent of her official biography, but some online research told us a lot more. She won the Belarusian award as the Outstanding Young Medical Practitioner in 2019. She undertook studies, and work, at hospitals in Great Britain (York) and in Moscow. She has authored numerous medical and academic papers, and has presented her work at conferences across Western Europe. On 1st March 2024, her official cosmonaut biography was published by Roscosmos, and now includes all this information. It is a very impressive resume for someone who is only 28 years old.

It is easy to see how Anastasia would be considered as a perfect candidate to conduct the programme of medical and scientific which the Belarusian Academy of Sciences is apparently co-ordinating. But, for some reason, she was deemed better suited to the back-up role, and Marina Vasilevskaya was preferred to her.

So, what do we know about Marina? Well, the first thing we can say is that her resume is much less impressive, and it is a mystery how she was even allowed to enter the selection procress.

Marina Vasilevskaya is 33 years old, and became a flight attendant, with Belavia, in 2017. At some point, she became a cabin crew instructor. According information released through the Belarusian media, prior to 2017, she was a professional ballroom dancer. Unlike Anastasia, her online history is almost non-existent. What we have been told, implies that she began her dancing career in 2002, when she was twelve. Whilst this is perfectly plausible, it is perhaps a little strange that there is no record or ‘footprint’ of any of this online. She apparently left school at sixteen without any higher education, to pursue her dancing career. A professional dancer might be expected to win competitions, or appear on TV, but there is no information available about any such events.

In addition, she had no social media presence prior to 2017. This is extremely unusual for a young woman, especially one allegedly involved in a career where publicity and self-promotion are quite important.

Her high school graduation record is available, online, and it shows she left school in 2006, seemingly confirming that she did not continue to higher education, at that time.

When her official biography was also published on 1st March 2024, it was revealed that she obtained a degree in 'Management' at the Minsk University of Innovation, in 2017, just before she joined 'Belavia'. There is now no mention of dancing, which now appears as a hobby, and no explanation of what she was doing between 2006 and 2017. This period simply isn't mentioned by Roscosmos, the Belarusian AoS, and is not questioned by the compliant Belarusian media. 

A degree in a STEM related subject was said to be a pre-requisite to apply for the cosmonaut selection process.  How did she overcome this obstacle? How was Marina even able to enter the selection process?

So, all this raises the distinct possibility that perhaps Marina had another career between 2006 and 2017. One which gave her some education, skills or experience which eventually enabled her to be invited, or fast-tracked, into the cosmonaut selection. Or, perhaps it was also a career, or role, that brought her into contact with Lukashenko, or his circle, and reaffirmed her political loyalty and reliability. This would certainly have been a key consideration in Lukashenko’s eyes. 

When the search for a woman cosmonaut began, perhaps Lukashenko, one of his sons, or one of his advisors, threw Marina's name into the mix. How else would a flight attendant even be eligible to apply? 

Whatever she did between 2006 and 2017, it seems to be something that the Belarusian regime, the AoS and Marina Vasilevskaya herself don't want to talk about. Perhaps it is something that NASA, ESA and the other ISS partners might not be wholly comfortable with?

Since their assignments were announced in May 2023, Vasilevskaya and Lenkova’s contact with the media has been very carefully managed. They had given only a handful of interviews, to selected Belarusian state controlled media outlets. On each occasion, Lukashenko, or a member of his family was involved. Clearly the dictator wants some of the glamour, and prestige, of this flight to rub off on him.

In these few public appearances, Vasilevskaya has come across as very confident and self-assured. One of her instructors described her as fearless. She has praised Lukashenko and the AoS for giving her opportunity to go into Space. She has clearly been carefully vetted by both the Belarusian and Russian sides, and she does come across as someone who is more than a typical flight attendant. 

For several months, Dr Lenkova was a little more reserved with her remarks, although as the back-up, she is always going to be in Vasilevskaya’s shadow. However, during the final few days of activities at Star City, and during the pre-departure press conference, she was more open and forthright about her hopes and feelings.  

In the last two weeks, both Soyuz MS-25 crews have completed their training, exams and all pre-flight traditions, before leaving for Baikonur. To be fair to Marina Vasilevskaya, she achieved an excellent rating from her instructors, and her Soyuz commander, Oleg Novitsky said that was capable of flying as a fully-fledged flight engineer. Anastasia Lenkova also achieved similar rating in the exams.

This has opened up a lot more media attention on both Vasilevskaya and Lenkova, and also their families. Marina has given the impression of being a strong, confident, and even charismatic, woman, who is totally focused on performing the task she has been selected for. 

Anastasia Lenkova is clearly equally well-prepared, qualified and willing to fly. She has responded to all questions about being the back-up professionally, and with dignity. She gives the impression that she definitely hasn't given up on the possibilty that she could still fly on MS-25. But, as is often the nature of such situations, as the back-up, she is always slightly in the background. Perhaps her turn will come on a long duration flight, in a couple of years?

So, to go back to the question we asked at the beginning; "Why is Belarus sending a Flight Attendant into Space?"

The most likely answer is that Marina Vasilevskaya is, somehow, more than a regular flight attendant. She has probably done other things in her career, that allowed her into the cosmonaut selection process, and once in that process, her strong personality, and perhaps her contacts, enabled her to emerge as the favoured candidate, ahead of women with much superior professional qualifications.

It now looks almost certain that Marina will be launched into Space on 21st March, so, however she managed to get the assignment, we wish her good luck and a safe trip. 

When she returns, she will doubtless become a useful, loyal and reliable 'poster girl' of the Lukashenko regime. 

Updated 13th March 2024

Photos GCTC/NASA

Belarusian ISS visiting mission planned for March 2024

Details of the Soyuz MS-25 visiting mission to the ISS which will carry the first Belarusian cosmonaut continue to emerge slowly, mostly through the Russian, rather than Belarusian, media. 

The short-term Visiting Mission-21 will be launched on 21st March 2024 and will be commanded by veteran Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, and will also deliver NASA astronaut Tracey Caldwell-Dyson who will join ISS Expeditions 70/71 for a six month stay. The third seat will be occupied by the woman selected to be the first Belarusian in space, Marina Vasilevskaya, 33, a former flight attendant-instructor with the national airline ‘Belavia’. 

The Belarusian side apparently asked that Novitsky command the flight as he was born in what is now Belarus, although he has always held Soviet, and later Russian, nationality. 

Novitsky and Vasilevskaya will stay on the ISS for twelve days, before returning with NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara, who arrived in September 2023, onboard Soyuz MS-24. Soyuz MS-25 will be the first Russian (or Soviet) spaceflight to launch with two women on board, although, ironically, neither will be Russian. However, the returning MS-24 won’t be, as that distinction is held by Soyuz TMA-11, in 2008. Neither of the women onboard that landing, Peggy Whitson (NASA) and Soyeon Yi (South Korea), were Russian either!

The idea of a flight of a Belarusian cosmonaut, to the ISS, was first put forward, in December 2021, by Dmitri Rogozin, then the Head of Roskosmos. At that time Rogozin said that he would ask Belarus to select a ‘girl’, as such a selection would ‘brighten up the Cosmonaut Training Centre’! 

In April 2022, the Russian and Belarusian leaders, Putin and Lukashenko, issued a statement confirming that they had agreed to the flight of Belarusian cosmonaut in 2023 or 2024, as a "symbol of friendship between Russia and Belarus". 

Little was heard for many months, but on Christmas Eve 2022, six women, aged 25 to 32, arrived at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC ) for medical and psychological assessment. They comprised two doctors, two scientific researchers and two flight attendants with ‘Belavia’. Information on how these six were selected is very sparse, although in was reported that there was an earlier short-list of nineteen men and ten women. The men were later excluded, to comply with Rogozin’s earlier diktat, even though he had been removed from his post in July 2022. Why flight attendants had even been eligible to apply, or be considered, is unclear, but more about that later.

Lukashenko was present at the GCTC, and one of the women, Marina Vasilevskaya, was required to do an 8-G centrifuge run, for his amusement. Later, Lukashenko was photographed next to the eventual prime and back-up candidates. Given his subsequent interest in the project, and style of leadership, it is highly that Lukashenko made the final selections himself, there and then, and that Vasilevskaya had secured the prime seat by either volunteering, or agreeing, to that centrifuge ride.

The Belarus Academy of Sciences initially said that Vasilevskaya would conduct a programme of twelve scientific experiments without giving any details, but subsequent statements reduced this number to nine, and then, in early February 2024, to just seven. Curiously, there is no mention of any of this on the Academy of Sciences website, which suggests that the mission and its objectives may have been taken over by the Lukashenko's office.

Although Marina Vasilevskaya, and her back-up, Dr Anastasia Lenkova, arrived at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in July 2023, eight months before the planned launch, they followed accelerated the three-month training schedule designed for the movie-makers who participated in the Soyuz MS-19 flight in 2021. 

Unlike the movie crews, the duo completed their training with their Russian commanders as two person teams, with the Belarusians taking the flight engineer one seats. The two NASA astronauts being ferried to join ISS Expeditions 70/71, joined the training flow in February 2024.

In early November 2023, in an interview with Belarusian media, veteran cosmonaut Valery Tokarev said that Vasilevskaya was ‘psychologically and physically ready to fly’ which suggests that the remaining months before the launch would be spent on preparing the experimental programme. 

It is notable that the Belarusian media refers to the two women as 'cosmonauts', whilst the Russian media calls them 'spaceflight participants.'

There is obviously a huge political and propaganda element to the flight, and its timing, given Belarus’ close collaboration with Russia during its war on Ukraine, even though the mission was initiated before February 2022. This has already manifested itself in the two cosmonauts’ first official task, which was to accept a flag from the Belarusian Olympic Committee, which is to be taken to the ISS as part of their personal baggage allowance. Belarus is currently banned (alongside Russia) from entering a team in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. The Olympic Committee is presided over by Alexander Lukashenko's son, Viktor.

The lack of broader information about the flight has even attracted comment from Oleg Novitsky's wife, Yulia, who is a Russian journalist. She expressed surprise when describing the training and preparations as being conducted in 'the strictest secrecy'. 

During a meeting with Lukashenko in January 2024, on their last visit to friends and family before the flight, the dictator asked, ‘Have you changed your minds about going into space?’ But both women confirmed that they were ready, and that the spaceflight would definitely take place, as planned. He then presented them with flowers and watches.

Independent Belarusian media, mostly based in Poland, have reported the preparations for the planned flight in a more jocular style, giving very few details, and under headlines such as 'Belavia stewardess will go into space on March 21st' .

With just over four weeks to go until the launch, we'd expect a more regular flow ot information to appear and we will update this blog, as it happens.

We are currently working on profiles and backstories for the two Belarusian women, Marina Vasilevskaya and Anastasia Lenkova, and details of their training and their thoughts about the flight, and we'll publish these, through here, in the coming days. 

Words - Tony Quine January 2024 (Updated February 2024)

Photos - GCTC Press Office/NASA

Russian Movie in Space Part 12

 Rogozin wants to send "Вызов" back-up crew members into Space too. 

The Soyuz MS-19, carrying the so-called 'creative crew' of professional cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and movie makers Klim Shipenko and Julia Peresild was launched successfully on 5th October. A little over three hours later, the Soyuz docked with the International Space Station, although the docking was completed manually, after a problem with the automated Kurs system. 

The flight, so far, has been reported in the global media, so we don't propose to repeat, or compete, with that coverage. However we will report a small sub-plot which emerged during the post-docking media event.

Dmitri Rogozin, Head of Roscosmos, has revealed that the two back-up Spaceflight Participants, for Soyuz MS-19 had been invited to join the professional cosmonaut team. Aleksey Dudin, 40, a camera operator and Alyona Mordovina, 33, an actress, have both received the official invitation. Rogozin explained that both had successfully completed the challenging cosmonaut medical, physical and psychological tests, in the Spring.

They have also completed four months of flight specific training, and passed their final examinations, as part of the back-up crew, with professional cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. In fact, this crew actually outscored the prime crew, in those examinations. So, they were fully certified to fly the Soyuz MS-19 mission, had this become necessary. 

Mr Dudin would join a fairly long line of male cosmonauts at various stages of preparation for their first spaceflight. However, for Miss Mordovina, the situation would be rather different. 

Roscosmos only has a solitary female cosmonaut in their team, Anna Kikina, 37, an engineer recruited in 2012, and due to make her first spaceflight, next year. No women were successful in the 2018 or 2020 recruitment processses. Rogozin has previously commented on his wish to rapidly expand the available pool of female cosmonauts. 

Another participant in the actress recruitment process, Galina Kairova, 26, who is also a pilot, received an offer to join the cosmonaut squad, in May, when she reached the final stages of the casting process. So the news that Miss Mordovina had received a similar offer was not totally unexpected.

Recently, the Head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (GCTC), Maxim Kharlamov, said that he was in regular contact with Miss Kairova, but it seems that no solid plans for her are yet in place. Perhaps the plan is to sychronise the recruitment of both women, now that Miss Mordovina is free from her back-up duties?

Roscosmos Press Office declined to make any additional comment. However, long before Rogozin's announcement, informal contacts within the GCTC had remarked that Miss Mordovina could well be recruited into the cosmonaut team. Her excellent performance in training, personal qualities, and the general lack of female cosmonauts had created her opportunity. 

So far, the response from Miss Mordovina, and Mr Dudin, has not been reported, although when talking to a TV reporter, prior to the launch and Rogozin's comments, Alyona had said, "We might get that opportunity (to fly in Space) very soon." 

We will keep a close eye on this story, and bring updates, as they occur.

Words - Tony Quine October 2021

Photos - Roscosmos or GCTC Press Offices.

Russian Movie in Space Part 11

 Final Countdown for Russian

“Movie in Space” Project

For ten months, we’ve been following the progress of the Russian ‘Movie in Space’ project “Challenge” (Vyzov). We were the first media outlet to break several aspects of the story, including the names of the successful actresses, back in  April

Now those two actresses, Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina are among the six crew members, at the Baikonur cosmodrome, ready for the launch on 5th October. 

As this update was being prepared, all indications are that the prime crew Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shipenko and Julia Peresild will make the flight, and the Movie. However, a final decision won't be announced until the State Commission meet on Monday 4th October.

The last three weeks have been very busy for both crews as they moved through the carefully scheduled series of milestones which precede every Soyuz launch. On 8th and 9th September, both crew undertook the so called 'Complex Examinations' at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre. This involves tests on the crews' knowledge of the Soyuz and ISS Russian Segment, and requires them to deal with a complex sequence of system failures and malfunctions, under the scrutiny of examiners and instructors.

Both crews achieved the required 'pass' in both exams, with the back-up crew achieving slightly better scores 9.56 to 9.50 (out of 10). However, a few days later the planned crew assignments were confirmed by the Interdepartmental Commission; Prime - Shkaplerov, Shipenko and Peresild; Back-up - Artemyev, Dudin, Mordovina. 

Immediately after this decision, a further sequence of cosmonaut traditions began with a crew Press Conference, followed by a visit to Red Square, where flowers were laid on the tombs of Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev. Unusually, Klim Shipenko did not take part in the Red Square ceremony, which caused surprise among some observers.

Julia Peresild, who had previously used her social media posts to make it clear that she had found the training very difficult, was clearly relieved to have passed the final exams, and was in a very positive and upbeat mood, for the first time in several weeks. Her understudy, Alyona Mordovina, explained that she had found the training experience to be enjoyable and enriching, rather than difficult, although she had been nervous during her cinematic audition with Klim Shipenko.

The next milestone was the departure to Baikonur, a tense occasion which involved the crews saying farewell to family members, which for Julia Peresild included her two daughters. However, the two actresses encouraged the crews to introduce new traditions and photo opportunities, as shown below. 

A few hours later, both crews, who had flown on seperate aircraft, arrived at Baikonur, which was much warmer than Moscow had been. The arrival procedures included clearing Border Control, as they were entering Kazakhstan.

                                                                     

The following day, Sunday 19th September, both crews spent the whole day on the first stage of accepting the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft, and their Sokol flight suits. This involved each crew boarding the craft in their flight overalls, and undertaking various checks and noting any recommendations for refinements or changes. Later in the day, the crews donned their personally tailored Sokol suits and took their seats in the Soyuz for a second time. This check is usually only performed by the prime crew, but on this occasion, the back-up crew also performed the process.

The following 10 days have seen the crews undertaking a busy schedule of training, medical tests, vestibular preparations and further long-standing traditions such as flag raising, tree planting, and visiting various historical locations around the Baikonur complex.

Alyona Mordovina revealed, on her Instagram, that the crews have created a new tradition, by watching a movie, from Klim Shipenko's collection, each evening. She also wrote about the strong bond and atmosphere of mutual support and fun which has developed between the two crews.

On 29th September, the crews revisited the Building 254 location to complete the final acceptance on the Soyuz MS-19, before it is mated to the booster, ready for rollout to the launchpad, on 3rd October.                         

                                                          

Meanwhile, the TV station participating in the project have started to ramp up their coverage, beginning with retrospective coverage of the selection of the two actresses, back in March, and the spaceflight training which began in May. 

These programmes showed that the demanding and daunting process which Julia Peresild, Alyona Mordovina and Aleksey Dudin came through was exactly the same as used for screening professional cosmonaut candidates, and culminated in a challenging 8-G centrifuge run. Consider that no female applicants were successful in the 2018 or 2020 cosmonaut selection groups, and then the rapid pace of their training, testing and preparation, over the Summer, and Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina should feel very proud of themselves, for being where they are now. 

As we finalised this Blog, the back-up crew had just observed another Baikonur tradition by witnessing the rollout of the booster to the launchpad, at T-4 days.

The next Space Sleuthing update on the Soyuz MS-19 mission will come after the launch.

Images by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

Words by Tony Quine

Russian Movie in Space Part 10

 

Russian 'Movie in Space' preparations enter the final month.

For nine months, we’ve been carefully following the progress of the Russian ‘Movie in Space’ project “Challenge” (Vyzov). We were the first media channel to break several aspects of the story, including the names of the final four actresses, back in  April

Now, with just a month left until a Russian actress goes into space on Soyuz MS-19, we enter the most critical stages of the preparations. The two crews, Anton Shkaplerov, Klim Shipenko and Julia Peresild (prime) and Oleg Artemyev, Aleksey Dudin and Alyona Mordovina (back-up) have more or less completed their training, in the shortest time attempted by any Russian space crew. On 31st  August, all were passed as fit for spaceflight, by the State Medical Commission. They are now preparing for the final tests, which will determine which crew will be the first all-Russian crew to go into space for over twenty years.

Of course, Shkaplerov, Shipenko and Peresild are currently in the prime seats, but there is a chance that the back-ups may perform better, in the complex examinations, or that the final selection could be a combination of both the training crews. 

As we will explore below, with the accelerated training regime and the unusual nature of the flight, and crew, it is still all to play for. As a cosmonaut told me recently, "Several options are still open!" The Interdepartmental Commission who will determine the final crew line-up, are due to meet in mid-September.

On 5^th September, Moscow’s Channel One TV began broadcasting a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary, which will continue weekly, until after the Soyuz landing on 17^th October. The first episode began to follow the process through which the three thousand applicants for the role were reduced to twenty, then four and finally two, Julia Peresild and Alyona Mordovina. The first episode can be viewed here.

Roscosmos have said that this coverage will allow the viewers to appreciate the ‘professionalism, skill and courage of the many specialists engaged in the Russian space sector.’ 

According to the schedule released by the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, on 8^th and 9^th September, the two crews will participate in the critical final examinations. This involves each crew performing a simulated Soyuz launch, docking, and landing, while dealing with various off-nominal situations created by  their instructors and examiners. They then perform a similar exercise in the ISS Russian Segment, carrying out routine duties and actions, interspersed with further problems and challenges to resolve. The nature of the emergencies is determined by the crew selecting one of several sealed envelopes which each contain a different combination of challenges. As each crew includes a female cosmonaut, it is the usual protocol that the Commander allows them to choose the envelope!

After this, there will be a period of rest and relaxation, before the Interdepartmental Commission meets on 16^th September to announce which crew will fly, and to authorise the start of the pre-launch phase, and departure to Baikonur, which is planned for 18^th. Between these two events, the crews will perform one of the great Russian pre-flight traditions and visit Red Square to lay flowers at Yuri Gagarin’s tomb.

The extended interval between the examinations and the Interdepartmental Commission, compared to other recent Soyuz launch campaigns, suggests that the Commission members anticipate needing a little longer than usual to determine the crew which will fly. 

Historically, several Spaceflight Participants have been elevated (and others demoted) at this stage, and they may be preparing for a similar situation, here. The Commission includes representatives of the divisions of Roscosmos, RSC Energiya, but does not include anyone from Channel One. It is purely a cosmonautics decision.

There are several indications that Julia Peresild has found the training very challenging. Earlier in the Summer, reports from sources within the GCTC had indicated that she was struggling with the vast amount of technical information she was required to absorb rapidly and was being significantly outperformed by her back-up, Alyona Mordovina. 

In late August, the same sources mentioned that Peresild was "clearly under a lot of pressure from different directions".

The four Spaceflight Participants are not allowed to give formal interviews, but each has used Social Media to convey information about their experiences and thoughts. Julia Peresild, has 400,000 followers, has posted several photographs, texts and videos to her audience and has been remarkably honest and open about how difficult she has found the training. On 27^th August, she wrote “The word hard, does not come close to describing how it is.” Peresild has also mentioned, on several occasions that she is ‘scared’ about what she is going to do. 

On the other hand, Alyona Mordovina has been very positive in her Social Media posts. She is clearly grateful for the extraordinary opportunity and experience which she has had over the last few months. Her technical performance we mentioned above, and she seems to be relaxed and confident and totally ready to step in, if Peresild does falter, or fails to satisfy the Interdepartmental Commission.

Channel One will want to maintain interest in the TV show, throughout September, and will, no doubt, want some unexpected events, and drama, to maintain public interest in the project and their TV coverage. Some changes to the crew, and therefore the star of the movie might deliver that! The coming few weeks will still be interesting!

Incidentally, in a display of typical showmanship, the Head of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, has invited Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to attend the Soyuz MS-19 launch. However, so far, he doesn’t appear to have invited Tom Cruise, whose plans to fly to the ISS with SpaceX, caused the Russian authorities to initiate this project in September 2020. 

In tandem with the flight training and preparations, the two crews have been undertaking technical rehearsals for the ISS movie filming, which is planned to produce around 35-40 minutes of screen content. As the plot revolves around a surgical procedure being carried out on the ISS, some photos have been released showing the mock-up of the newly arrived Nauka (MLM) Module, being used as a makeshift operating theatre. Some Russian media sources have reported that the training schedule overlooked the need for these rehearsals and so they have mostly been held at the weekends!

Images by Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre and Sasha Gusov

Words by Tony Quine

Russian Movie in Space Part 9

The ISS-66 back-up crew were "launched′′ to the ISS, for the first time

In our last two Blogs, we mentioned that we would focus our attention on the back-up crew for Soyuz MS-19. The mainstream media tend to cover the prime crew, so we want to restore some balance.

This week, the whole crew, including the Soyuz commander, Oleg Artemyev took part in joint training, in the Soyuz MS simulator, for the first time. Let's see how this important session worked out.

′′It seems that they are excellent!", cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev shared his impressions of the first joint training, of the back-up crew the ISS-66 mission. The previous day, he and his colleagues on the upcoming expedition which is part of the movie, scientific and educational project ′′ Challenge ", held a their first full session on the ′′Soyuz MS ′′ simulator, at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training, while wearing their Sokol (Falcon) spacesuits.

During the training of the crew of Artemyev, camera operator for the film ′′ Challenge ′′ Alexey Dudin and actress Alena Mordovina performed the programme related to a routine launch to the ISS. This involved preparation for the launch followed by the ascent to orbit, of the Soyuz MS, inspection of sealing of compartments and systems of the ship after separation from the carrier rocket, orbital maneuvering and preparation for docking with the International Space Station. At all stages the crew worked competently and as a team.

Oleg Artemyev, being in the middle seat of the descent module, does not have the ability to reach all the controls of the ship, so some functions are carried out by the other crew members, even though they are not professional cosmonauts.

During the routine, Alena Mordovina, sitting on the right, had to operate valves, including those supplying oxygen to the descent module, and to control the pumping of any condensate. When checking the spacesuits for tightness, Alexey Dudin worked the valves that supply oxygen in spacesuits.

′′There was no tension just because they were not professional astronauts in the adjacent seats, and on the contrary, as a commander I was able to organize the work of the crew." said Oleg Artemyev.

"It was important to check what they have learned over the last two months, and it turned out that they know everything, learn quickly, they can carry out the work allocated, according to my instructions ".

He added that he was fortunate to have in his crew two people who are focused, and who want to learn.

"Alexey, will help me in case of emergency situations" added Artemyev. "He has onboard documentation ready, and will be able to open anything necessary at a moments notice. In addition to her main responsibilities, Alyona will have to record all the situations arising onboard on her tablet that will have to be reported to Earth. It's also a great responsibility and help ".

Writing on her own Social Media channels, Alyona Mordovina hinted that she is still focused on a prime crew seat (and the lead role in the Movie) by writing, "So proud to be part of our team. With this crew, I know I won't be scared when we go up in the rocket! It's like a miracle"

In total, the main and duplicate crews of the ISS-66 will undertake six such joint training sessions in the Soyuz MS simulator. As these progess, off-nominal, or emergency situations will be introduced and the crew will have to adapt to deal with these scenarios.

In September, just after the final examination are undertaken, the decision will be taken on whether the prime crew, or back-up crew, will make the flight, on 5th October.

Images by courtesy Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre

Words by Tony Quine

Russian Movie in Space Part 8

 

Could the crew assignments be changed, after Krikalev crisis?

For almost nine months, we’ve been following the Russian ‘Movie in Space’ project «Вызов» with several exclusive stories and updates. During the early stages, we talked to several actresses and aviation sports enthusiasts who joined the other 3000 women who applied for the lead role.

In April, we were the first media outlet in the World to reveal the names of the final four candidates; Alyona Mordovina, Yulia Peresild, Sofya Arzhakovskaya and Galina Kairova.

As everyone now knows, on 13^th May, Yulia Peresild was cast in the leading role, and therefore would join the prime crew of Soyuz MS-19 alongside experienced cosmonaut, Anton Shkaplerov and the movie’s director, Klim Shipenko. Shipenko’s position in the prime crew had been announced many months before, subject to his acceptance by the State Medical Commission.

If all follows the published timeline, Shkaplerov, Peresild and Shipenko will be launched to the ISS on 5^th October, which requires a training and preparation programme of only four months.

So, what has happened in the two months since that announcement?

Well, the prime crew ‘spaceflight participants’ Peresild and Shipenko, and their back-ups Alyona Mordovina, and camera operator Aleksey Dudin reported for training on Monday 24^th May. After an initial burst of photos, interviews and publicity, there has been little mention in the Russian media of exactly what aspects of training they have completed. Even individual Social Media accounts give little away, although many photos show that the candidates are living, from Monday to Friday, at the Cosmonaut Training Centre.

Although the Roscosmos and First Channel media offices have said that interviews are not possible, at this time, Yulia Peresild did give a lengthy Q &A session, on 11th June, using Instagram during which she revealed, that she was ‘obviously scared’ when she found out that she was to be offered the role.

On 19th June, First Channel showed a report of the two crews performing Water Survival Training, a difficult and strength sapping activity.

But, an aspect we want to examine, in this Blog, is how certain are the crew assignments? Is it possible that the back-up crew might actually be assigned to the mission?

At the Space Sleuthing Blog, we’ve been looking back at previous Soyuz flights which included ‘spaceflight participants’ and where there was a genuine trained, and funded, back-up available.

The evidence suggest that the back-up crew have a good chance. Both Soyuz TMA-9 and TMA-12  saw the back-up SFP’s (Anousheh Ansari and Soyeon Yi) reassigned to their respective prime crews, around three weeks before the launch. 

In each case, the trainers, instructors and management, at the Cosmonaut Training Centre, pushed through the crew changes. Such changes were based on training performance and psychological evaluations, and weaknesses in the performance of the prime crew member. 

We should also consider that the back-up SFP on Soyuz TMA-18M, Satoshi Takamatsu, would have flown if he’d been able to bring the money together in time, after British singer, Sarah Brightman dropped out.

So, based on previous events, we can probably say that there is a 50% chance that one, or both, members of the back-up crew will eventually be reassigned to the prime crew, before the launch.

We should also consider the possible impact of recent events surrounding Sergei Kriklev, Head of Manned Programmes at Roskosmos, who was removed from his post, allegedly, for speaking out against the concept of the movie project at a Roskosmos Management Board meeting, before being reinstated a few days later. This occurred after very public protests from many prominent ex-cosmonauts, and more subtle, but equally strong protests from the current cosmonaut squad.

No doubt part of the terms of his reinstatement will require Krikalev give unqualified support the to movie project, but he will also want to ensure that his objections had some influence, and that the people he sends into space are the best qualified, and best prepared.  

In other words, for the back-up crew, anything could still happen. The training assessments and recommendations of the professionals at the GCTC should, in the end, out-weigh ‘artistic’ preferences.

Although First Channel, and Shipenko, may have cast Persild, the actress who completes the training and impresses the GCTC assessors will be the one who sits in the rocket on 5th October.  From the point of view of Alyona Mordovina, everything is still to play for!

We have nothing but admiration for Yulia Peresild. She is clearly a very good, and very popular actress. It maybe that the GCTC specialists will still give her the thumbs up. But, here at the Space Sleuthing Blog, we do love to see an underdog come out on top, and so we are firmly backing Alyona Mordovina to make the flight!

What is not widely known, is that Alyona was the first of the twenty actresses to pass all the medical and psychological tests, and be confirmed as qualified for cosmonaut training. 

For several weeks, she was the only candidate eligible to make the flight, until the other three were added at the last moment. In those circumstances, she may have been a little disappointed to end up with the back-up role.  

If she was, it does not show in her Social Media posts. Alyona seems to be enjoying the experience of getting ready to make a Spaceflight. At this stage, the crews have only completed around 30% of their training, but Alyona looks focused, relaxed and ready to go. 

One of the other actresses who met her at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in March described her to us as "a shining light", and explained "Alyona was clearly the one who had prepared best, and who wanted it the most."

© Tony Quine July 2021